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Demosthenes

(Encyclopedia)Demosthenes dĭmŏsˈthənēz [key], 384?–322 b.c., Greek orator, generally considered the greatest of the Greek orators. He was a pupil of Isaeus, and—although the story of his putting pebbles in...

Kossuth, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Kossuth, Louis kŏso͞othˈ [key], Hung. Kossuth Lajos, 1802–94, Hungarian revolutionary hero. Born of a Protestant family and a lawyer by training, he entered politics as a member of the diet and s...

Taylor, Jeremy

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Jeremy, 1613–67, English bishop and theological and devotional writer. He was distinguished as a preacher and as the author of some of the most noted religious works in English. After comple...

Pedro I

(Encyclopedia)Pedro I (Dom Pedro de Alcântara) pāˈdrō [key], 1798–1834, first emperor of Brazil (1822–31); son of John VI of Portugal. Dom Pedro was a child when the Portuguese royal family, fleeing from Na...

Mazzini, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Mazzini, Giuseppe jo͞ozĕpˈpā mät-sēˈnē [key], 1805–72, Italian patriot and revolutionist, an outstanding figure of the Risorgimento. His youth was spent in literary and philosophical studies...

Lateran Treaty

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Treaty, concordat between the Holy See and the kingdom of Italy signed in 1929 in the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Cardinal Gasparri for Pius XI and by Benito Mussolini for Victor Emmanuel III. On...

Waldenses

(Encyclopedia)Waldenses wôldĕnˈsēz [key] or Waldensians, Protestant religious group of medieval origin, called in French Vaudois. They originated in the late 12th cent. as the Poor Men of Lyons, a band organize...

Wilkes, John

(Encyclopedia)Wilkes, John, 1727–97, English politician and journalist. He studied at the Univ. of Leiden, returned to England in 1746, and purchased (1757) a seat in Parliament. Backed by Earl Temple, Wilkes fou...

treason

(Encyclopedia)treason, legal term for various acts of disloyalty. The English law, first clearly stated in the Statute of Treasons (1350), originally distinguished high treason from petit (or petty) treason. Petit ...

Peasants' War

(Encyclopedia)Peasants' War, 1524–26, rising of the German peasants and the poorer classes of the towns, particularly in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia. It was the climax of a series of local revolts that dated...
 

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